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There Is No Reason To Spend A Ton Of Cash On 9V Batteries

duracell

The main reason why any player carries around batteries in his or her gig bag is for pedals and/or for an active pickup system. For pedals in particular, when you want the least signal noise, you use 9-volt batteries instead of an external power source for the reason that it skirts around any wonky stage power issues. And yes, it’s true you could use a power strip that has built-in power conditioning (sometime labeled as “clean power”), but for this article I’m just concentrating on just the batteries.

Fact: It is very unlikely there is any local store near you that carries the proper 9-volt batteries you actually need

By “proper 9-volt”, I mean industrial grade batteries that when popped in always deliver the right amount of power and have a predictable drain rate so there are no surprises. You just want something that works the same every time so you can concentrate more on playing rather than wondering if that shiny new 9-volt will drain in 1 hour or 5.

If you want the good batteries bought locally, well, don’t be surprised if you can’t find any.

Fact: The markup on batteries (even for the crappy ones) is insane

Nobody sells batteries in a physical storefront cheap anywhere, unless you’re fortunate enough to have a local dealer that a) carries the proper 9-volt batteries you want and b) allows you to buy them in bulk. And the chances of that being true are slim to none.

“You get what you pay for” absolutely does not apply to 9-volt batteries when bought from a physical storefront whatsoever. For other stuff, sure, it’s worth it to spend the extra cash. But not for batteries.

Fact: Online mail order is the best way to get the best batteries at the best price

Here are the two battery brands which are “no-brainer” purchases. Many of you out there probably use these regularly.

duracell-12
Duracell Procell 12-pack
Cost at time of this writing: About $22

energizer
Energizer Industrial 12-pack
Cost at time of this writing: About $21

Either one of the above will suit your 9-volt needs adequately. And remember, these are far superior than the kind you’d buy in a storefront. At roughly $1.85 a battery, that’s about as fair a price as you can get for these things.

REMEMBER: Some vendors on Amazon offer free shipping for either of the above, so look for that.

Also remember there is never any good reason to spend a lot of cash on batteries. Go industrial and don’t spend any more than you have to.

Is there an easy way to check how much battery life is left *without* removing the battery?

In fact, there is.

The Batt-O-Meter is a preamp and pedal battery tester. How it works is easy. Plug the Batt-O-Meter into the pedal and it will tell you how many hours of battery life is left. If you use battery-powered gear, you will very much appreciate having the Batt-O-Meter around. Aside from the price (it’s not expensive at all), the convenience you get makes it well worth having.

8 thoughts on “There Is No Reason To Spend A Ton Of Cash On 9V Batteries”

  1. I wouldn’t use anything but a 110 volt supply but if I did this would be right way to go. I just found an old two way radio of mine with the old DuraCell Ultras in and they were still good. 15 years later!

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  2. It astounds me how many people are paying a fortune for bad batteries. I’ve been buying bulk industrial 9v for years and cannot bear to pay $5 a piece for a crappy battery at a grocery store that has no date on it. More people need to be aware of the batteries in their rig, they can spell disaster at the worst of times.

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  3. Not really sustainable using disposable batteries in your pedals all the time though, is it. At least a lot of pedal builders now do not have battery clips to save on the waste from these. Maybe something you guys should be reporting on?

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  4. I hate buying and replacing batteeies and I hate noisy power supplies, so I use the Sanyo Eneloop Pedal Power.
    I havent seen a better solution to date.

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  5. This is great for reliability and consistency. I don’t use pedals or effects, but my bass uses two 9 v batts so I’m glad to save some money from here on out. Thanks for the tip.

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  6. Thank god for these tips, my Ibanez bass uses a single batter box and I REALLY needed to figure out how to get the good stuff and save, instead of running out of cash on shitty batteries from the store. So glad I found this before I actually started wasting cash.

    Reply
  7. Hi, I use a Cort artisan bass with active pickups, and have never had an issue with non-industrial grade batteries. However, today I fit an industrial grade battery, which didn’t work (literally no sound output), and burned my fingers when I tried to remove it after only a minute of being in the bass. Does this sound like a battery issue or a circuitry issue?
    Any help would be greatly appreciated
    Nick

    Reply
  8. As I was clicking on this article I was thinking “no because you can get industrials in bulk on Amazon for cheap” . I dont use batteries in anything but my basses and my 18v Spector has the same two that were installed with the preamp some time ago. Unplug the cable and they last forever. I have a SUB Ray 4 that has recently started to devour 9volts in a manner of days if I leave them in. Have to troubleshoot this but the clip has been janky from day one.

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